What I like about single basic moves in tai chi practice

Tai chi basics, including “single basic moves” are employed to train for specific objectives, such as loosening, relaxing and strengthening joints, ligaments and tendons, all of which are exclusive offerings of the tai chi exercise system.

What I like about single basic moves is they give you something to do on your own. A good solo practice can be developed with single basics. I wrote before about the two kinds of memory you come across in practice: the learning a sequence of moves kind and remembering a deeper feeling of the movement. The first helps to develop the external appearance of movement and the latter develops the internal.

Doing a single move repeatedly is simpler than remembering long sequences of postures and transitions. But more than that, it allows you to narrow your focus to the internal which takes more concentration. Not that it needs that much, just that we don’t typically ever focus on that. We’re out of touch and out of practice with this learning path.

Do single basics and relax

Repeating a single move simplifies the process of moving. You have less to remember. You can relax and pay more attention to the feeling of the movement and not worry so much about what comes next, which you tend to do in remembering form sequences. Of course, sequence learning is part of the overall learning. Often that’s all that is taught to beginners. Many of us remain beginners for years, in that case, because there is practically an infinite number of postures and transitions to learn. And knowing lots of sequences doesn’t necessarily lead to a well-rounded knowledge base. We often lack knowledge of internal practices.

A meaning of internal

Different people will define internal in different ways according to their experience. Internal can be described in many ways depending on the context and the particular movements you’re engaging. In the context of this post’s topic, I describe it as narrowing focus down to the more intricate, or deeper, levels of movement. This practice always leads to the most minute motion deep in your whole being, not just your body. The body is where you point your attention to in the beginning of your practice. But you also have your mind, your “spirit” or “shen,’ and your “Qi,” or energy.

At some point a regular, sincere practice of focusing attention to deeper levels triggers changes in the quality of your movements. Your move may become bigger or more power may come with it. It’s exponential, as in what I’ve heard my teacher, George Xu, say often “minimum effort, maximum results.”

This idea defies what average people usually think. If your long-held thinking has grown static, shallow and relies on unexamined assumptions you’ll have difficulty picking up on the more intrinsic details of taijiquan. Understanding this boils down to being free in your movement so that you will adjust to the constant flux of the energy of being alive. Let the qi move your body. Let the mind picture the move before you move at all. This might sound deep or even meaningless, but it fits with what I mean.

I’m simply referring to the “life force,” referred to in tai chi circles, which is what practitioners are trying to connect with. You’re not just learning moves and sets of moves. You’re learning how to be alive in the present moment. You’re learning how to feel the energy in any given moment.

Single basic moves can help bring you to that place in your practice. You become aware of something that you were not aware of before, or haven’t been for a long time. New feeling appears even when you’re not actually practicing anything at all—just going through daily life.

Qualities of Moving, or the “Flow”

You can focus on moving from a single point, but also on moving along a line—from feet to head and back, for example. It’s like traveling along a conduit of energy. This is a more intricate view of the “flow” you hear people talk about to describe the feeling of energy moving.

For many the movement is rather broad—still more wai dan (external field), then nei dan (internal field). Both views are accurate but they have different outcomes, and different motivations. Wai dan describes a less-informed and less-formed view, which happens to be broad in perspective. Most people begin with this mindset.

Nei dan is deeper, revealing much more of the total scope of practice that is possible. It is deeper, less superficial. Wherever you are in your learning process, progress happens by keeping it simple and seeking deeper awareness of what constitutes any move.

I think single basics is a great way to immerse yourself into this area of learning. You should be able to take greater advantage of the overall benefits of taiji that is being talked about so much these days, from research findings to testimonials from practitioners.

Repeat and refine

Although single basics are repetitive, they are not repetitious, so to speak. You repeat a pattern, intent on refining, not on repeating it exactly the same way as before. Change is the key. “Changeability” as Master Xu puts it.

How do you refine? Pick out a particular locus and focus your attention on how you move there. Focus on the move itself and how you might alter it—make it smoother, rounder, less hesitant.

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Published by Paul Tim Richard

With 20 years of training (previously a Shotokan Karate practitioner), I teach tai chi (taijiquan) and qigong with an emphasis on principles of internal movement and I apply them in single-basic exercises and forms from the Wu, Chen, Yang (Pan-hou) and Cheng Man Qing styles of taijiquan, as well as Lan Shou Quan (Cao Quan), some Xing Yi 10 Animal, and several qigong sets of various origins. I help learners to cultivate their own practice.
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